Railroad car inside lining



w. L. ENNIS July 1 .1942.

Patented July 14, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILROAD CAR INSIDE LINING Walter L. Ennis, Evanston, 111. Application April 21, 1941, Serial No. 3, 89,575

2 Claims.

My invention relates more particularly to the inside lining of refrigerator cars which has for its object the provision of a construction whereby freer circulation of air around the sides and ends of a load of perishable commodities is permitted and a more uniform temperature between the top and the bottom, of the car is obtained.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be readily comprehended from the following detailed description of the accompanying 3.

drawing wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the bunker end of a railroad refrigerator car, the upper part of the car being broken away, as well as part of the floor rack on which the outline of a container is shown.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan of one corner of the car.

Figure 3 is a perspective View of a portion of my improved inside lining.

My invention is designed to obviate the difficulties encountered by railroads particularly with shipments of perishable commodities due to the lack of proper air circulation about the closely stacked packages or containers in which the perishabl'es are packed.

With the type of inside lining of refrigerator cars at present constructed and installed, consisting generally of plain or flat surfaced boards arranged longitudinall of the car, when the i" packaged commodities are arranged in contact with the inner walls of the car, proper air circulation around the perishable commodities is impossible.

In many instances it has been necessary to provide wood strips, frequently one-quarter or three-eighth inch by two to two and a half inches in thickness and Width along the side walls of the car in order to maintain the commodity, or packages containing same, in spaced relation with the inner wall or car inside lining so as to permit air circulation adjacent the walls.

This method not only incurred cost of material and the expense of time and labor of installation but also reduced the inside transverse and longitudinal dimensions of the car whose overall dimensions must be kept within prescribed standard limits.

It has been found in actual practice that the method mentioned has so reduced the inside dimensions of the car that with certain lading the car could not be provided with what is known as a standard load; as for example, by reducing the inside width of the car one-half inch or provide the car with a standard load of eggs consisting of eight cases arranged transversely of the car.

Then too, the wood strips, after the lading had been removed, frequently are misplaced or lost, thus incurring the additional expense of replacement. 7 In order to overcome these difliculties, while at the same time maintaining the original inside dimensions of a standard railroad refrigerator car, I have devised an inside lining consisting of boards of predetermined width and length, channeled or grooved from end to end and arranging the boards vertically, extending preferably from the floor of the car to the ceiling or adjacent to the top of the car.

A section of one of the boards In is shown in Figure 3, preferably tongued and grooved at opposite longitudinal edges so as to provide a continuous uninterrupted inside wall or lining as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The boards l0, whose main body width is preferably about five and a quarter inches, are each provided with a groove or channel I l of sufiicient width and depth to obtain an air channel.

With a board approximating the width mentioned, I prefer to provide the channel I l approximately two inches in width and preferably a quarter inch in depth so as to obtain the desired flow of air intermediate the packaged commodity and the inner walls of the car. As'is apparent, with the lining boards ID of the dimensions above set forth and with channels II as mentioned, the car inner wall or inside :3 lining will be provided with a plurality of vertically disposed air conducting channels arranged approximately three and a quarter inches apart.

For purposes of illustration, I have more or 43 less schematically shown a portion of a side wall and of one end of a refrigerator car whose outer wall may be of metal or of wood construction as shown at l2, with the usual framing to which the outer wall I2 and the inside lining boards i3 ID are secured and with the usual insulating material (not shown) arranged between the outer wall and inside lining; while the bottom of the car is shown with a section of a floor rack at [3 resting on the car floor M. It will be 3 understood, however, that any suitable strips or means may be employed to keep the lading in spaced relation with the car floor l4 and any method of temperature lowering medium may be employed and the ice holding bunkers at the three-quarters of an inch, it was impossible to 3 car ends eliminated.

The sides of the grooves or channels H are preferably made to more or less gradually curve outwardly, as shown at [5 in Figure 3, thereby flaring the longitudinal sides, increasing the channel width at the face of the board and providing non-angular sloping surfaces at both sides of the channel which prevent the possibility of damage to any lading that may be packed in the car and present urfaces which themselves are less likely to become chipped or broken.

As more clearly seen in Figure 1, the commodity container C, as well as any superposed containers, may be placed in immediate contact with the inside lining of the car, from side to side, thus permitting the car to be loaded to maximum capacity and a standard load provided, because the car inner wall has no protruding elements or strips. It will also be noted in Figure 1 that a plurality of comparatively closely arranged and vertically disposed air conducting channels are provided between the commodity and the car walls which enable the air to circulate freely from bottom to top and facilitate the movement of air around the lading and at the same time provide a more uniform temperature throughout the height of the car.

At the same time, aside from maintaining maximum standard dimensions on the car interior, the car inside walls or lining present no protruding surfaces whereby injury to the cargo or lading, regardlessof its nature, might result.

The exemplification illustrated in the drawing is believed to be the best embodiment of the invention, but modifications may be possible without, however, departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a car, an inner lining composed of vertically arranged boards with longitudinal matching surfaces, the boards being provided with comparatively wide vertically disposed grooves extending from top to bottom and flaring at opposite longitudinal sides.

2. In a refrigerator car, the combination of means for maintaining the lading in spaced relation with the car-floor, an inner lining composed of vertically arranged boards extending from the upper end of the car to the floor, the longitudinal edges of the boards having matching interengaging surfaces so as to provide a continuous inner wall, the inner face of each board. having a recessed longitudinal channel extending throughout its length and of width substantially equal to one-half the width of the board whereby a plurality of parallelly arranged and vertically disposed air channels leading from the car floor and at the sides of the lading are provided.

WALTER L. ENNIS. 

